The hidden gem of Kosmaj - Pavlovac Monastery

After visiting the Tresije monastery, which I presented to you in this post, it was time for lunch, so we headed to the famous restaurant "Vilino korito" in Kosmji.

On the menu were specialties of local cuisine and various meat specialties.

However, I will not write about lunch here, although I could recommend this restaurant (and it is already entered in my address book, for a next visit 🙂).

I will write to you about another hidden gem of Serbian medieval history, which I discovered on the map of Kosmaj, while after lunch I was looking at these beautiful landscapes and thinking about what else I could visit in this region.

And I found it, but barely, because it is really hidden, away from the main road, in the forest.

Pavlovac Monastery

The monastery, which was built in honor of St. Nicholas, under the patronage of the Serbian lord, despot Stefan Lazarevic, in 1417, was completely destroyed and set on fire in 1690 by the Turkish army, while all the monks were killed after brutal torture.

When in 1967, after almost three hundred years of oblivion, the restoration of the monastery began (which was completed in 1998), it was discovered that the complex, in addition to the monastery, also contained a large monastery dormitory, storerooms, a kitchen for preparing food, as well as a castle where the despot Stefan often stayed during rest and hunting.

Not long after the monastery was built, its founder, the despot Stefan, died during a hunt in 1427, and a funeral was held for him in the Pavlovac monastery, before he was buried in the Manasija monastery (which will be the subject of a post in the future).

Located next to the Pavlovac stream, after which it got its name, this monastery was built in the Moravian style from crushed stone.

The dense forest that surrounded it provided the perfect environment for rest, but it was not dense enough to protect it from the terror of the invaders.

Touring the complex, when you descend from the improvised parking lot to the plateau in front of the monastery, you will see the remains of the walls of long-destroyed buildings.

Near the remains of the walls of the inn, the castle and the kitchen, there is a board showing photos and sketches of the complex when the reconstruction began, and the board was placed on the 600th anniversary of the construction of the monastery in 2017.

Above the narrow wooden door is a fresco, a mosaic of Saint Nicholas.

The interior of the church is simple and reduced, without frescoes of saints on the walls.

300 years of rain and snow on the slopes of Mount Kosmaj had an adverse effect on the sensitive frescoes on the ruined walls and the building without a roof, so even though segments of the walls with remains of frescoes were found during the archaeological excavations, it was decided not to paint the interior.

A new woodcarving iconostasis was made, icons were installed, as well as a beautiful church chandelier.

We lit candles in the courtyard of the monastery, walked a little more among the ruins.

I had to touch the remains of stone foundations that have stood there for 300 years and still defy time, probably in the desire to feel some stronger energy or emotion...

We listened to the sound of the stream and the song of the birds, and when we gathered energy and calmed the body and soul a little, we headed back to the car and out of the forest where this gem is located.